How much experience

Thank you for all the answers on my flyline question.I settled for cortland.And i did make a mistake in the rod weight it is a 5-6.Now for my next question.How much experience would you recommend before you would take the fly rod steelheading.I am confident when fishing a stream for smallmouth but i would probably get intimidated with the crowds and totally forget how to cast.I see guys roll casting and i am trying to learn so hopefully i will get better,but should i try fly fishing this season or should i refine my casting ability for another year.I am a beginner with 1 month of fly lishing experience.Any advice is appreciated.Thank you.

You will see people that bought their first flyrod on the way there and have never picked one up before.

jig, i was in the same boat as you last year (actually, i still am).  i went up to the one-fly with really limited experience, jack (indy) showed me a trick or two, and i was actually roll casting well enough to get by.  i even managed a one for three, my first steelie on a fly rod.  once you get up there and see what everyone else is using and the varying degrees of experience, it won't really matter.    can't hit the ball if you're not in the batter's box.

PM Sent

Just go and have fun.  Lot of water.  You dont have to walk far to find pods you can learn on, you just have to be observant and learn to read water.  Ive seen so many guys walk by water and complain there are no fish in the creek then rip a half dozen out of the spot they just walked by.
 
Here's what you will learn the first year...casting and hooking.....not so hard, fighting and landing fish on a flyrod....there is the challenge.
 
GOOD LUCK
 
 
MO

I went up my first year with about 4 months experience and a SA 5wt with the starter kit gear. Didn't catch many, but even w/ that small amount of experience (part of which included a REAL lesson), I could see that my skills were sufficient, and even superior to many on the water.

A few suggestions, if I may:

-My best fishing in Erie has required no cast more elaborate than picking the line up off the water and dropping it back in, at the top of the run. Most of my fish have been hooked with less than 1 rod length of line out of the tip top. Food for thought.

-With your 5wt, you might still want to get out and away from people. For the first minute or so of any fight...you will be at the fish's mercy, and your biggest challenge will be to stay connected. If he goes upstream, let him run. If he goes down, chase him. If you're in a crowd, this is much more difficult.

-Make sure your reel has a good drag. My first steelhead on that starter kit was a fresh, energetic male that left me with 2 parallel brush burns on the palm of my hand from the spinning spool. After that one fish, the cheap starter trout reel was shot. Basically free spooled in both directions. Upgraded to a more heavy duty aluminum reel with a centerline drag ad haven't had a problem since.

-Learn to fish the fast water. You'll have all the room you need since almost nobody fishes there...and I've found these locations to have some of the best fishing.

you'll enjoy the rod

jon_e_si enjoys the rod.